Illinois Central and Amtrak units descend the St. Charles Air line on their way back to Union Station rails in this view north from the West 18th Street bridge. The St. Charles Air Line connects the IC's (by now Illinois Central Gulf) Iowa line with its lakefront trackage and resulted in many backup moves for Amtrak. Owned by the IC and Chicago & North Western, it runs from 16th Street Crossing to Halsted Street Tower on the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
At left is the Chicago & Western Indiana's Dearborn Station trackage, now unused since the advent of Amtrak and the consolidation of long-distance trains in Union Station (although the Rock Island opted out of Amtrak and continued to run the Peoria Rocket and Quad Cities Rocket out of La Salle Street Station until December 31, 1978).
